


Desuetude - Paris Version

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1076]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pro!Tony, Tony DiNozzo Leaves NCIS Team, Tony comes back, Tony in France, Tony to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-22 09:11:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14305467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: When Tony's Uncle Clive leaves him a huge inheritance, Tony takes advantage of it to buy a Ferrari and move to Paris, the city of love. He's called back to Washington to testify for one of his old court cases and discovers that the team basically fell apart when he left. Can he fix things before he leaves again? Or will he choose to stay?





	1. Tony's Return

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/gifts).



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 04/11/2002 for the word [desuetude](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2002/04/11/desuetude).
> 
> desuetude  
> The cessation of use;discontinuance of practice or custom; disuse.
> 
> This is a very belated bday gift for Red_Pink_Dots. She asked for a Tony returning to DC story. I hope that she'll enjoy this though I'm not sure it's what she had in mind when she suggested a Tony returning to DC story. 
> 
> Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I'm always looking to improve. Also, I'm always looking for more prompts. Feel free to add your own. Prompts are open. More information is available at the end of the work if you want to prompt me yourself.

# 

Desuetude - Paris Version

Tony looked around the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as the feelings rushed in. He’d never expected to return here. He’d left NCIS for Paris and a completely different life. 

His unexpected inheritance from Uncle Clive had fulfilled his long desired dreams. He’d bought a Ferrari and moved to France to live the high life amongst the lovely French high society. 

He'd expected to find someone there to marry and settle down with. In Paris, the city of love, he was bound to find a love of his own, right?

Wrong. There were plenty of women and even a few men for him to choose from, but none of them were right. Most of them were far more interested in his Ferrari than in him. 

It wasn’t a complete loss, however. He’d found the perfect house, but what really made this place amazing was the backyard. It literally sprawled.

It was at least a half acre with a portion dedicated to a garden and a row of fruit trees that surrounded the property providing a natural barrier against the neighbors particularly during summer. With the architecture of the house, stunning, and the interior decorating, phenomenal, Tony absolutely loved this place. He’d be happy to live in this house for the rest of his life.

In fact, he would have remained in France forever, except new evidence came to light for one of his old NCIS cases and he needed to testify in court about his role in the case. He'd made sure that all of his court cases were testified and finished before he moved to France, so being called back to the States over one of them annoyed him a little. He wasn't the only one testifying from NCIS though.

Special Agent Gibbs, Forensic Technician Abby, and Cybercrimes Special Agent McGee had also been called to testify. Tony couldn't help feeling like the gang was getting back together again. He wondered what the others thought of him returning.

Only one had even attempted to keep in touch with him after he moved and even that contact wasn't very frequent. Not that he expected anything else from Gibbs, who thought that if it took more than 5 words to say it, it wasn't worth saying. Oh, Abby had promised to keep him in the loop and tell him everything, but after a couple of years contact from her stopped all together.

Tony had tried reaching out to her, not sure why she'd stopped, but he'd received no response and eventually given up. Maybe now he could figure out why she’d stopped talking to him. McGee on the other hand, despite Tony seeing McGee online in games that Tony knew McGee played and knew what his avatar was, Tony could never get McGee to respond either via text or email or even IM. 

Tony had no idea what was up with McGee. They hadn’t parted on bad terms, but still he hadn’t heard from McGee even once. Tony had to admit that the rate with which contacting him had fallen into desuetude had left him with even less of a desire to return to the US.

Hopefully testifying and the court case would be resolved quickly and he could return to France soon. First, though he had to find a place to stay. He’d expected to stay in a hotel, but apparently there was some sort of convention going on that had booked up all the decent hotels.

Flea ridden motels may still be available, but he wasn’t willing to check them out or stay there even if they were available. He really had no other choice than to bunk at Gibbs. He just hoped it went better than the last time he stayed at Gibbs.

Accidentally walking in on Gibbs masturbating, Tony had feared for his life when he realized what he was seeing. An awkward conversation later and they’d both agreed to try to forget about it. That was easier said than done, however, at least for Tony.

He had no idea how easy or difficult it was for Gibbs, though he knew Gibbs remembered based on Gibbs’ comment, ”No, you cannot stay at my place. Remember last time?” to him a number of years ago when the boiler blew at his apartment. The image of Gibbs masturbating had been stuck in his head for a number of years after. It had more than kindled his desire for the man and he’d slowly fallen for Gibbs over the years after that.

When he’d realized how deep his feelings for his then boss were, he’d shoved the feelings as deep down as he could. He couldn’t afford for anyone to realize that his feelings for Gibbs were deeper than for anyone else. He flirted with Gibbs, but he flirted with everyone and no one ever thought anything of it. 

Despite catching Gibbs masturbating once, Tony had seen no signs that Gibbs was anything other than straight. He’d buried his feelings even deeper when he’d realized that there was no way they’d ever be returned because Gibbs was straight. In fact, they’d been buried so deeply and had been so constant that he’d forgotten how much he loved Gibbs.

Now, staring at Gibbs’ door, all those feelings came rushing back. No wonder he’d had such a hard time trying to find love in Paris. Shaking his head at himself, Tony opened the door.

It opened smoothly like it always had. Setting his bags down by the door, Tony ventured down the stairs to the basement. True to form, Gibbs sanded his boat, complete with a jar filled with bourbon on hand nearby.

Tony settled on a stair to wait for Gibbs to notice him or rather for Gibbs to indicate that he’d noticed him. Tony knew Gibbs had noticed him the second he’d opened the door to Gibbs’ house. Another 5 minutes passed in silence, neither of them feeling the need to start the conversation.

“You stayin’?” 

“At least until the verdict comes in.” Tony offered, leisurely.

Gibbs grunted and nodded and silence reigned once again. 

“Have you had dinner?” 

Gibbs grunted. Tony took that as a no and headed up to see what there was to make dinner with. There wasn’t much in the fridge to work with. 

Tony shook his head. Looked like he’d have to go grocery shopping if he wanted something other than steak, but that could wait until tomorrow. Knowing that touching Gibbs; steak was asking for death, Tony returned to the basement. “Looks like we’re having steak.”

Gibbs grunted again.

Tony knew that meant that Gibbs would fix the steak when he felt like it and not before. Tony settled in to wait and in the meantime he would watch Gibbs work on his boat. That would make him hungry in a different manner, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.

He hadn’t brought anything to entertain himself with expecting to be in a hotel that would have cable. Plus, bringing anything through customs was a pain that he hadn’t wanted to deal with this trip. Technically Gibbs did have a TV here in the basement, but it was pretty much constantly set to the farm report and news if it was turned on. 

The last time Tony had stayed here, he’d brought his own portable TV and DVD player to keep him occupied. This time, he didn’t know what he’d do. It seemed a waste of money to buy something he already owned.

Hopefully, most of his days would be filled with the court case and he wouldn’t have too much time to get bored. He knew boredom meant daydreaming about Gibbs and that thought led to nowhere good especially while he was staying in the man’s house. Tony cringed at the thought of Gibbs catching him masturbating because he knew he’d be masturbating to images of Gibbs.

Gibbs caught the cringe out of the corner of his eye. “Something wrong?”

Tony startled and immediately replied, “No, boss,” from years of training.

Gibbs eyed him suspiciously before returning to working on his boat. Something was bothering Tony and he would get to the bottom of it before the man left the country again. He’d missed Tony a lot more than he expected to. 

While he wouldn’t say it, he was happy that Tony had been forced to stay with him. The fact was that time Tony caught him masturbating, he’d been thinking of Tony and had just been glad that Tony had caught him before he finished and hadn’t heard his name come from Gibbs’ mouth. Gibbs hadn’t known how he would have explained that to Tony given their supervisor to subordinate relationship and had been happy to let Tony assume that he was thinking of a woman.

Now, though, Tony didn’t work under him and Gibbs could pursue him if he wanted to. Of course, it still remained to be seen if Tony could be interested in him that way. He probably had at most a month to suss it out before Tony returned to France. 

There was a remote possibility that the court case Tony had been called back to testify for would be prolonged for two or three months, but Gibbs wasn’t going to base his investigative operation into Tony’s feelings on that timeline. He may be a bastard, but he wasn’t a fool. He’d been forced to watch Tony walk out of his life after the unexpected inheritance once and he wasn’t going to let it happen a second time without finding out for sure Tony’s feelings for him.

Still even with Tony living in another country, they’d kept in touch. Well as much as Gibbs could with anyone not working actively with him. Judging that it was about time to start making dinner, Gibbs set down his tools and headed upstairs.

He knew Tony would follow him, which Tony did. Gibbs started a fire in the fireplace. It would need some time to get to the stage where it was ready for steaks. 

Leaving Tony to watch the fire, Gibbs pulled the steaks out and started creating the rub and marinade that he would use on them. Once he’d finished prep and had the steaks marinating with the rub on the side, he headed out to the living room with the marinating steaks and rub. He’d finish applying the rub once the steaks had marinated and were ready to go on the fire.

Setting the bowl with the steaks on the ground and the bowl with the rub next to them, he turned his attention to Tony. “How’s Paris?”

Tony shrugged. Then his face lit up as he remembered that he hadn’t told Gibbs about the house he’d found and purchased. “You’ve got to see this place that I bought. The backyard is amazing.”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and grunted.

Tony blinked and realized that he had pictures he could show Gibbs. He pulled out his phone, pulling up pictures of his house. “See. Isn't it amazing?” Tony tilted the phone towards Gibbs to make it easier to see.

Gibbs pulled the phone closer and squinted, trying to see the pictures. Tony looked around for Gibbs’ glasses. He spotted them on the coffee table nearby and picked them up and handed them to Gibbs.

Gibbs glared at Tony, but put them on. With the help of the glasses, Gibbs eyes focused and the picture cleared right up. Tony demonstrated how to swipe to see the next picture. 

Gibbs took the phone from Tony and started swiping through the pictures. Tony sat down on the couch, watching Gibbs worriedly as he moved through the pictures of Tony’s house without saying anything. Internally, Gibbs could see how Tony would love this house.

He was a bit surprised at the size of the yard and garden and trees, though. He hadn’t expected Tony to buy a place that required so much manual maintenance. Gibbs couldn’t help questioning if he should even try with Tony.

Could he move to France to be with Tony? He didn’t think Tony would give up the place that he clearly loved just for Gibbs. Before Gibbs made a move on Tony, he’d have to think really hard about whether he was willing to move to Paris to be with Tony. It wouldn’t be fair to Tony to make a move if he had doubts.

Gibbs handed the phone back to Tony, “It’s nice,” and started cooking the steaks. 

Tony watched Gibbs trying to figure out what Gibbs really thought of his new place since Gibbs hadn’t really said anything. Now that he saw Gibbs again, Tony could really imagine Gibbs at his house in Paris. He wondered if Gibbs would be willing to move or if he hated the place and would want nothing to do with it. 

It could go either way right now and he didn’t know which way it would go. He wished Gibbs would give him more of an indication about what he was thinking. 

“How have things been here?” Tony wondered how NCIS and the team were doing now that he was gone. 

“Fine. Tim quit the team and went back to Cybercrimes. Abby barely speaks to me anymore. Ziva went back to Israel.” Gibbs stated in a flat monotone voice that was at odds with his words. 

“What?” Tony blurted out, dumbfounded. Apparently, Gibbs definition of fine was different from his.

Gibbs grunted. “I guess I was too much for them without you there to redirect my temper and make me smile. I’m on my third new team now and don’t expect this one to last much longer than the last.”

Tony shook his head. “They’re not turning agents out of FLETC like they used to. Agents used to be made of sterner stuff than that.”

Gibbs mumbled, “No one was ever as good as you.”

Tony’s lips quirked up in a smile as he heard that. He’d wondered the last few years before he left if Gibbs really did value his contribution. It was good to hear that he did.

Tony wondered if the reason he hadn’t heard from Tim was because he’d left team Gibbs and hadn’t wanted to admit it to Tony. He’d have to talk to Abby and figure out what really happened when he went in to get the case file to remind himself of what he’d be testifying about. There had to be more to this story than just Gibbs' normal temper for Abby to stop talking to him and Tim to move to Cybercrimes while Ziva went back to Israel.

They passed the rest of the evening comfortably, talking about various things from their lives that they hadn’t shared via email. After they finished their steaks, Gibbs headed back down to the basement. Tony went to grab his bag and take a shower. 

Tony called after Gibbs, “Am I in the guest room again?”

Gibbs called back, “Take the master. The guest room isn’t a bedroom anymore.”

Tony’s eyebrow rose. There had to be another story to that too. His curiosity got the better of him and he peeked his head into the guest room.

There definitely wasn’t a bed in there anymore. Gibbs appeared to be using it as a storage room. Wood more than anything filled the room, but hinges and various other parts for furniture or perhaps Gibbs boat littered the place. 

Tony shrugged and closed the door, continuing on to the bathroom for his shower. He’d have to talk to Gibbs after his shower though. He hadn’t intended to kick Gibbs out of his own bed. 

Tony set his bag in Gibbs’ bedroom and headed down to the basement. “I can take the couch. It’s no problem.”

Gibbs snarled, “Take the bed, DiNozzo.” He didn’t want to get into a debate on who was sleeping where.

“I’m not kicking you out of your own bed in your own home, Gibbs.” Tony pointed out reasonably.

“It’s fine. I usually sleep on the couch or under the boat anyway.” Gibbs waved dismissively. 

Tony badly wanted to argue about Gibbs’ choice of sleeping locations, but he knew that wasn’t a battle to fight today. “Fine. You win today. Tomorrow is another matter, though.” Tony warned.

Gibbs ignored Tony’s threat and continued to work on his boat. Tony sighed, shook his head and headed upstairs to sleep in Gibbs’ bed. He had to keep reminding himself that he couldn’t masturbate in Gibbs’ bed. 

It took forever to actually fall asleep because his body kept trying to get excited about Gibbs’ scent all around him, but he finally fell asleep a number of hours after he first laid down on Gibbs’ bed. Before Gibbs fell asleep for the night himself, he checked in on Tony in his bedroom. It did something to Gibbs’ emotions to see Tony lying in his bed. 

Gibbs stared for longer than he wanted to admit at Tony’s sleeping form. Finally, he shook himself out of the daze he’d fallen into and headed back downstairs. He settled down on the couch to sleep, but he couldn’t seem to get comfortable as images of Tony in his bed kept flashing through his mind and turning him on.

Even grumpier than normal due to lack of sleep, Gibbs growled, glared, and snarled as he moved around the house the next morning after tossing and turning for the whole night. Tony stumbled around rubbing sleep from his eyes the next morning and wondering what happened to Gibbs during the night. He’d figured to head in to NCIS with Gibbs since he needed to pick up the case file and prepare to testify, but he hadn’t expected such a crabby Gibbs.

Usually, Gibbs woke early and had made it through three cups of coffee by the time Tony woke. Generally, Gibbs’ normal bastard behavior kicked in around the third cup, but nothing like what Gibbs was doing now. Tony didn’t know what to make of this grouchy Gibbs. 

Gibbs wasn’t exactly a Pollyanna in the mornings, but he was usually more even keeled then he seemed to be right now. Tony ignored Gibbs’ temper as he’d learned to do and prepared for his day. He still needed to corner Abby and find out what the heck happened between the team and Gibbs. 

He also needed to find out why everyone except Gibbs had stopped or never started contacting him. Hopefully the two were essentially related. Tony wasn’t sure that he’d be able to handle multiple issues that needed to be dealt with before he returned to France. 

Still, he just needed to take things one day at a time until the verdict came back on the court case and he could return to France. Gibbs and Tony climbed into Gibbs’ car and Gibbs drove them to NCIS headquarters, ignoring the speed laws. Gibbs escorted Tony to get a visitor badge since Tony was no longer an NCIS agent.

It was weird to have to get a visitor badge to enter a place that he used to enter every day. Tony chatted up the security guards as they verified everything and handed him his visitor badge. Sometimes they had good gossip. Sometimes they didn’t.

Today, they either didn’t have good gossip or weren’t willing to share because he wasn’t an agent anymore. Gibbs didn’t wait for Tony. Once he dropped Tony off with security, Gibbs headed into the bullpen to start his normal day of work.

They didn’t have a case, so the team was going through cold cases. Gibbs doubted that they would get a real case given he had to testify in the same court case DiNozzo was here for and the rest were still greenhorns. Still you never knew what Vance would decide to do.

Tony’s first stop after security gave him his visitor’s badge was Abby’s lab. Tony knew Gibbs would be in the bullpen, but he needed to find out more about what had happened and why Abby had stopped talking to him first. He planned to visit Tim as well and get his side of the story.

Plus, he needed to actually pick up the case file from records and all before he headed up to the bullpen. Since he’d ridden with Gibbs, he was stuck here until Gibbs went home. Fortunately, with everything he needed to do today, he wasn’t worried about being bored. 

It would take him most of the day to get the truth out of Abby and Tim and the rest of the day would be spent on the court case. Once he had the case file, though, he’d return to the bullpen to read the case file and wait for Gibbs. The case file could be read anywhere, so at that point it would be up to Gibbs as to when they could leave.

Gibbs’ current probies cursed their boss’ temper. They had no idea what had happened, but he was clearly in a mood. They were jumping all over each other trying to find some clue in the cold cases to make Gibbs happy.

Gibbs didn’t know when Tony would return. Between the lack of sleep and Tony not being in his sight, he was very grumpy. He knew he shouldn’t take it out on the probies, but he’d never yet figured out how to be frustrated without taking it out on others.

Tony started with Abby. She would know the most and she had actually been talking to him a little. Deciding to surprise her, Tony snuck up behind Abby and wrapped her up in a hug.

“What?” Abby turned around to see who held her. “Tony!” Abby exclaimed tightening her arms around him in a hug. “When did you get in?”

“Last night.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Gibbs. There were no hotels available.”

“Oh, yeah. The anime convention is in town.” Abby slumped a little. Her initial happiness at seeing Tony falling as she was reminded about Gibbs and everything that had happened since Tony left.

“What’s wrong, Abby? What happened after I left?”

“Oh, Tony!” Abby cried, “Everything went wrong after you left. Gibbs turned into an absolute bear even worse than before you joined his team. I couldn’t believe it. He scared Timmy right to Cybercrimes.”

“Oh, come on, Abby. Gibbs can’t have been that bad. Surely, you’re exaggerating a little.”

Abby shook her head. “Ask Timmy. It was really bad.”

“Why did you stop talking to me, Abby?”

“Everything was so broken. Timmy went to Cybercrimes. Ziva returned to Israel. The TAD that replaced you left early on. Gibbs was going through probies faster than you can change your clothes. I knew you would figure out something was wrong and I didn’t know how to break it to you that everything had fallen apart after you left. Plus, I maybe blamed you a little for things falling apart, especially since you seemed to be enjoying Paris so much.”

“Oh, Abbs. Paris is wonderful, but it’s lacking when it comes to people. It doesn’t have you or Gibbs or Timmy.”

Abby hugged Tony even tighter at that. “I missed you, too.”

“Let me go talk to Timmy and see if I can get things worked out with him. He never even talked to me once I left.”

“Oh Tony. I’m so sorry. I’m sure Timmy was just struggling.”

“Well I’ll find out soon.” Tony dropped a kiss on Abby’s forehead. “You take care of yourself, mistress of the dark. We should get together outside of work before I go back to Paris.”


	2. Tony and the geek

Tim and Ziva both were used to dealing with bastard Gibbs when he left, so he was surprised to find out that everything had fallen apart. He hadn’t done much to protect them from Gibbs’ temper in later years, so he really didn’t understand what had happened. He’d have to get to the bottom of how things broke this badly with his geek.

Tony headed down to the dungeon to find his probie. The lights were always off and there were no windows. It would drive him crazy, but he knew that the geeks actually preferred the darkness. 

“I’ve come to rescue you from your self-imposed gloomy, depressing cell, Probie!” Tony announced as he entered Cybercrimes.

Tim shook his head at Tony’s exaggeration. “What are you doing back at NCIS?”

“I have to testify for the Reynold’s case.” 

“Oh, right. Me too.”

“So let’s go and chat and catch up with everything that’s been happening since I left.” Tony practically dragged Tim out of Cybercrimes and to a nearby coffee shop. 

Tim protested a little. He didn’t know how to tell Tony why he’d been ignoring Tony’s messages and knew that Tony would want to know that. On the other hand, Tim really didn’t want to talk about it in Cybercrimes where everyone else could hear it.

Tony ordered a hazelnut mocha and Tim ordered a hot chocolate. Working in Cybercrimes permanently, he found that coffee wasn’t needed and was actual detrimental to his coding so he’d stopped drinking it. 

“Wow. More than a little has changed since I’ve been gone, hasn’t it?” Tony asked, nodding to Tim’s drink.

Tim shrugged. He really didn’t want to get into everything. He’d considered Tony a friend of sorts before Tony left, but he knew he hadn’t treated Tony very well.

It had been a shock to him after Tony left. It felt like Gibbs changed overnight. He’d always been a bastard, but now he was more of one. 

Bastard didn’t really cover it. Angry, hurtful, insulting were only a few words that could be used to describe Gibbs’ behavior after Tony left. He’d thought that he could handle Gibbs as well as Tony did especially since they had a TAD for SFA.

Well truthfully McGee had thought he should have been SFA, but he’d quickly realized that he couldn’t handle being Gibbs’ SFA, let alone being on his team with Tony gone. Tony’s first email had come in after this realization and Tony had sounded so happy in Paris that Tim hadn’t known how to respond given how miserable he was. He’d finally given in and moved to Cybercrimes when it seemed he had no other options to remain a field agent besides Gibbs’ team and he truly couldn’t take Gibbs’ temper anymore.

It wasn’t what he wanted, though. He still wanted to be a field agent, not stuck behind a computer all day, and he’d hated Tony even more for leaving them at that point. He couldn’t bring himself to email Tony after he moved to Cybercrimes because he knew his hatred wasn’t fair to Tony, but he couldn’t get past it and write a friendly or calm email.

He’d actually tried multiple times to respond to one of Tony’s emails and couldn’t bring himself to send any of his responses because he knew they were too harsh and mean. He also hated to admit how weak he was and that he couldn’t handle Gibbs better than Tony did. Ziva and him had spent so much time putting Tony down before Tony left and when faced with the reality of Gibbs’ wrath focused on them, the truth was neither of them could handle it.

The reality of being on Gibbs’ team had set in and brought with it depression, at least on Tim’s side. He wasn’t sure what Ziva had felt. When Gibbs wasn’t around and sometimes even when he was, Tim and Ziva had spent most of their time arguing.

Ziva, unlike Tim, felt that she should be SFA and that Gibbs wouldn’t dare treat her the way he was if she was his SFA. In Tim’s eyes, Ziva didn’t see that neither of them were actually handling Gibbs’ temper well and that neither would provide the balancing factor for the team that Tony had. He’d never expected that being on the premier team would feel like torture and essentially turn into a hostile work environment, but between Gibbs and Ziva, it really had.

Tim had had no choice, but to go to Cybercrimes in his mind. He didn’t even know how to explain what had happened to Tony and they sat in silence in the coffee shop for a number of minutes with Tony asking questions that Tim mostly avoided answering. Finally, Tim broke his silence, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Tony asked, shocked. Tim had just broken one of Gibbs’ rules and while Tony didn’t adhere to all of Gibbs’ rules, he was surprised to hear McGee apologizing. He also didn’t understand what McGee was actually apologizing for.

“I should have kept in touch, better.”

“What happened?” Tony questioned, gently.

“I really don’t know. I keep going over it in my head and I can’t figure out what I could have done differently. Gibbs was so angry all of the time. The TAD left quickly and neither Ziva nor I could handle or diffuse Gibbs’ anger the way his SFA should.”

“Oh, probie. I thought I taught you better than that. Gibbs’ growl is worse than his bite. You need to stand up to him.”

McGee shrugged, ashamed. “Ziva went toe to toe with Gibbs a number of times, but it didn’t make any difference. Without you there to buffer us, I couldn’t take it anymore. Ziva and I were fighting all the time and Gibbs never did anything other than yell. While it still isn’t where I want to be long term, I knew I’d completely lose it if I remained on Team Gibbs. I had to go back to Cybercrimes.”

Tony patted McGee on the back. “It’s alright, Tim. Gibbs is hard to handle for many people. Just look at how many probies he’s gone through since you and Ziva left.”

“I don’t know how you did it, Tony. While Gibbs was still harsh when you were here, he was more human and we actually made him proud occasionally. I wish that I could handle Gibbs as easily as you did or that we could make him proud and actually smile occasionally. I’m sorry for putting you down. You have more strength of character than either Ziva or I and we shouldn’t have treated you the way we did.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it Probie. It was my job to make it look easy. Do you want me to talk with some of the other team leaders about taking you on? I’m sure something could be worked out if you really want to be a field agent, but don’t want to be on Gibbs’ team.”

“Really? After everything I did, you’d do that for me?” McGee didn’t feel he deserved Tony’s forgiveness. 

“I never wanted you unhappy, Tim.” Tim and Abby’s lack of contact after he left had hurt him, but he also knew that long distance relationships and friendships were harder to keep up. He couldn’t see how they were struggling. They shouldn’t have stopped talking to him, but Tony’s capacity for forgiveness had always been large.

“Thanks Tony. I’ll try to do better this time.”

“Next time, you’re struggling, send me a message. Maybe, I can help you figure out a different way to respond. It’s easier to change your response to a situation when you’re still in it than to try and figure out what you should have done years later after the situation is long over and done with.” Tony had always seen Tim as a little brother and wanted to help his brother learn and grow even if he’d really been hurt by his brother’s behavior.

“Thanks.” McGee quietly stated, touched at how much Tony cared. The distance should have harmed their relationship, but it had really helped Tim appreciate Tony in a way he never would have if Tony had stayed at NCIS.

“Come on, let’s get back. You still have work to do and I need to get the case file to remind myself what the Reynold’s case is even about.”

“Sure, Tony. Maybe we can hangout before you leave again?” Tim offered, hoping that he could make it up a little bit to Tony before Tony went back to Paris and they could firm up their friendship.

“We’ll see, Probie. I’m staying with Gibbs, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“I don’t know how you can put up with that man so easily, Tony. I’d never survive staying at his place.”

“Gibbs really isn’t that bad. You just have to know how to handle him.” Tony winked.

Tim shook his head, but he had a smile on his face for the first time in months as he headed back to Cybercrimes. Tony couldn’t help wondering what the hell had been going on with Gibbs to result in this. Picking up the case file, Tony headed upstairs and paused just out of sight of the bullpen.

He wanted to see how Gibbs interacted with his current team. He hoped that would give him some clue as to what had gone so wrong. He’d always looked up to Gibbs.

Gibbs had taken care of him in a time when he was struggling. He knew Gibbs could show care. Sure, it was sometimes gruff, but he hadn’t expected the team to fall apart like this and for Gibbs to do nothing. 

Maybe he didn’t know Gibbs as well as he thought he did. The probies were tripping all over each other in the bullpen. They really had no sense of teamwork. 

Gibbs wasn’t helping, just yelling at them. There was no training of any kind. Sure, Gibbs hadn’t really trained him, but when they’d brought Kate on, Gibbs had trained her.

Tony needed to get to the bottom of this before he left. His attraction to Gibbs aside, he couldn’t leave for Paris with everything broken the way it was. It may not have been his fault that things broke, but he couldn’t help feeling that this wouldn’t have happened if he had been here.

Ignoring the tension in the bullpen, Tony walked over to his old desk, which apparently was still empty and settled down with the case file to read and observe. Tony shook his head. The probies really weren’t as bad as Gibbs was making them feel. 

“Gibbs.” Tony warned.

Gibbs glared at Tony, but Tony ignored it. Gibbs knew what Tony was saying. Tony would wait until tomorrow to start taking Gibbs’ probies aside for private chats, but he knew that would be needed if Gibbs were going to keep this team instead of chase it away.

After Tony’s warning, Gibbs temper cooled a little. Having Tony in the bullpen also helped him feel better and a little more in control. By the time the normal work day came to a close, Gibbs was almost calm and he dismissed his probies with something closer to a smile than he normally had. 

Tony and Gibbs travelled home together. Tony insisted on stopping at a grocery store to pick up some staples, however, so that they could have something other than steak. Gibbs grunted and slammed on the brakes hard as he slid into a parking spot. Truthfully, he couldn’t wait to taste some of Tony’s cooking again.

The last time Tony had stayed with him, he’d been treated to a few delicious meals that he wouldn’t mind having again. Gibbs grumbled as he saw Tony putting greens in the basket, but he paid for all the groceries anyway. Tony smiled at Gibbs’ grumpiness, yet insistence that he pay for everything.

Tony kind of felt like they were on a date or something. Tony flirted outrageously with Gibbs on the way home and was surprised that Gibbs didn’t shoot him down once. Maybe Tony had a chance with Gibbs, after all. 

Once they arrived back at Gibbs’ house, Tony started making a simple pasta dish and while the pasta cooked, he tossed together a quick salad. He’d made sure to get Gibbs’ favorite salad dressing to make the greens a little more appealing. Instead of working on his boat, Gibbs dragged the TV from the basement to the living room and Tony found a sports game on one of the stations.

They ate in companionable silence. Tony gathered both of their dishes and quickly washed them when they were both done. Returning to the living room, Tony broke the silence. “What happened, Gibbs?”

Gibbs stayed silent. He didn’t know how to answer Tony’s question. He’d been asking himself the same thing ever since Tony returned. 

Tony narrowed his eyes at Gibbs. “Silence isn’t going to work here, Gibbs. I can’t fix it unless you talk to me.”

“You shouldn’t have to fix it.” Gibbs grumbled. He knew full well the mess was of his own making. He’d gotten so used to having Tony there to smooth the way that he’d stopped trying to rein in his temper. 

“Not going to debate that, but I can’t leave with everyone hurting the way they are now. If you’re not going to talk to me, you need to fix things yourself.” Tony pointed out. 

Gibbs sighed. Tony had always cared more than Gibbs did. He knew that the pain would call Tony to fix it. 

If Tony were one of his ex wives, Gibbs would have already retreated to the basement. Somehow Tony made him want to improve. Made him want to show he was working on it. 

“I know. I’ll try.”

“Do or do not. There is no try.” Tony quipped. 

Gibbs just looked at him blankly. 

Tony sighed. “You still aren’t up on your movies, huh? It’s a Star Wars quote, Gibbs. One particularly apt here.”

“Ok, Tony.” 

Tony shook his head. “Moving on. You’re sleeping in your bed tonight. I don’t know what you did last night, but it clearly did nothing for your temper. Take the bed, get a good sleep. There’s no reason to be in pain if you don’t have to be.”

Gibbs glared. “You’re my guest. You should have the bed.”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not going to be responsible for you being in pain. Either you take the bed or we share it, but you’re not sleeping wherever you slept last night.”

Gibbs glared at Tony, but Tony didn’t give an inch. “Fine.” Gibbs conceded with ill grace.

Tony directed the conversation back to safer topics for the night until they were both ready to head to bed. Tony quickly changed into pajama pants and grabbed some blankets and headed for the couch. Gibbs frowned as Tony took the couch. 

He’d hoped that Tony would sleep in his bed with him. Tomorrow, he’d just have to make sure that Tony took the bed if they weren’t going to be sharing. He wouldn’t admit it to Tony, but he did sleep better in his bed. 

Of course, part of the reason he slept better was because it smelled of Tony. He wasn’t quite ready to tell Tony that either. It didn’t dawn on Gibbs that he’d already given Tony more control of his life than he had any of his wives except for Shannon.


	3. Domesticity or Exhaustion?

The next day, Gibbs woke up in a better mood as he smelled breakfast cooking. The smell of bacon wafted up to his bedroom and he quickly dressed before heading downstairs with a smile on his face. He could also smell the coffee that Tony must have started and poured himself a cup of that first before joining Tony at the table.

“Smells good.” Gibbs complimented.

Tony smiled softly, but didn’t say anything. Tony finished his breakfast quickly as he still needed to change into work clothes before they left. He was also going through his plans for the day in his head and how he could ease the strain in Gibbs’ team and with Abby and Tim. 

While Gibbs still darted in and out of traffic, the drive was less harrowing today than yesterday. Both Tony and Gibbs were calm when they reached NCIS. Tony left Gibbs in the bullpen with his probies as he went to talk with Balboa about taking McGee on his team. 

Balboa agreed to try McGee out and Tony headed off to give McGee the good news. It wouldn’t be an SFA position, but if McGee buckled down and learned, he would have a chance to move into the SFA position when Balboa’s SFA took a promotion, which Tony expected to happen in about a year. McGee would be able to transition to Balboa’s team from Cybercrimes in about a week. 

The smile on Tim’s face was thanks enough. The cloud of doom hanging around his probie had just looked wrong. Tony wasn’t sure what to do for Abby, just yet, but hoped that she would cheer up with McGee happier.

He hinted to McGee that he should visit Abby. Tony suspected that Abby had been missing all of her friends. He’d seen that no one really visited her yesterday unless it was case related and couldn’t help shaking his head about how wrong things had gone after he left. 

Tony headed upstairs and pulled aside the most promising of the probies for a DiNozzo quick tip session. The probie stared at Tony wide eyed. He’d heard many stories about DiNozzo and none of them matched up to the reality. 

Still the probie listened and returned to work. Tony settled down with the case file at his desk again. He’d heard that he’d be called to the stand tomorrow. 

Throughout the day, Tony masterfully with a few well placed words got all of Gibbs’ probies on track. They’d all be good agents some day. Gibbs knew what Tony was doing, but Gibbs wasn’t the only one who noticed how the cracks that had been so obvious while Tony was gone had started to heal.

Ducky could see the difference Tony was making too. Even though Ducky wasn’t in the bullpen the general air of all agents had changed and Ducky noticed it. He’d have to have a word with Gibbs about that boy while Tony was busy at the courthouse tomorrow. 

Tony really had something special. Ducky had been happy for Tony, but he’d also been sad to see him go and he was looking forward to seeing more of Tony. He hoped that Gibbs would step up and make things right with Tony, so that Tony would decide to stay with them instead of going back to France.

With Tony’s tips, the probies were able to find a clue for one of the cold cases that busted it wide open. Tony remained in the office while Gibbs and the probies went out to arrest their suspect. Tony had to admit that he missed being out in the field, but he was also enjoying retirement. 

After they’d finished their reports, Gibbs sent his team home. Gibbs had barely had to look at the suspect before he cracked and confessed to everything. So with a closed case, Tony and Gibbs headed back to Gibbs’ house. 

Tomorrow, they would have to take two cars since Tony would spend most of the day at the courthouse and it wasn’t Gibbs’ turn, yet. Abby would be there with Tony, though. Gibbs decided to start making steaks and Tony made a salad to go with them.

They moved around each other without talking, working together to make dinner. After they’d finished eating, Gibbs growled, “You’re taking the bed tonight. You have court tomorrow.”

Tony rolled his eyes. This was clearly going to be a thing. Tony wasn’t about to inflict Gibbs in pain on the probies when he wouldn’t be there to help out. “Either we share or you take the bed, Gibbs. I’ll be fine in court tomorrow either way.”

Gibbs snarled. Why couldn’t Tony just take the bed like he was supposed to? Gibbs stormed down to the basement to work on his boat. 

Tony sighed. He’d have to wait for Gibbs to calm down a bit before broaching the sleeping situation again. They really needed to resolve this, so that it wasn’t a fight everyday. 

Tony gave it a couple of hours before venturing downstairs. “Glaring and storming out won’t make me take the bed.”

Gibbs growled and against his better judgement, practically yelled, “Fine. We’ll share the bed.”

If he couldn’t get Tony take the bed, they’d have to share it. He’d feel horrible with Tony at court all day if Tony slept on the couch. Of course, sleeping in the same bed as Tony would reveal certain desires that he hadn’t intended to get into just yet.

Even though Gibbs went to bed angry, he didn’t stay angry. He couldn’t with Tony sleeping peacefully next to him. It was a little awkward when he woke up to a raging hard on and Tony fast asleep, humping him.

Tony blushed and scrambled away when he woke and realized what had happened, but Gibbs just brushed it off as if it were nothing. He didn’t want to hide that he was attracted to Tony and it appeared that Tony felt the same way, though, only time would tell. It was possible it was just a case of morning wood and Tony dreaming of someone else.

Sitting in court all day, reminded Tony about why he got out of this business. He loved being an active field agent, but afterwards when the case went to court, it was absolute torture. There was no doubt that the guy was guilty. 

Heck, even the defense basically admitted that. So the whole court case was a sham as far as Tony was concerned. They were arguing lawyerly details not guilt or innocence. 

He was glad when he was finally off the stand and court was closed for the day. He exchanged exasperated looks with Abby as they left. Abby shrugged and suggested dinner.

Tony agreed and they headed out to a fancy restaurant nearby. Meanwhile, Gibbs probies were doing better. They’d taken Tony’s tips to heart and while they hadn’t cracked another cold case open, they were working as a team and Gibbs couldn’t fault them. 

He’d hoped to see Tony when court wrapped up, but finally sent everyone home an hour late when he decided that Tony wouldn’t be showing up at headquarters today, after all. He drove home, hoping Tony would be there. Silence filled the house.

It was obvious Tony wasn’t there either. Gibbs stormed around slamming cupboards and tools and generally being grumpy, but no one was there to see it. He made himself dinner and his shoulders slumped as he imagined returning to an empty house again everyday after Tony left.

He knew then that he had to take a chance. Tony seemed interested and even if he had to move to France and live with Tony there, he’d be happier there than the old grumpy lonely bitter man that he’d be if he stayed here without Tony. Gibbs was still a little grumpy when Tony returned from his dinner with Abby, but he couldn’t stay too grumpy when Tony’s smile greeted him as Tony walked in the door.

Having dinner with Abby had cheered Tony up a bit, though he was still exhausted from court. They chatted for a few minutes before both making motions towards getting ready for bed. Gibbs changed and settled into his bed leaving plenty of room for Tony. 

Tony, however, remembering what happened when they woke up decided it would be better for him to sleep on the couch. Gibbs disagreed. When he realized Tony wasn’t planning to join him in bed, Gibbs grumpily stormed down the stairs and demanded that Tony sleep in his bed. 

“I really think it’s better if I sleep here.”

Gibbs stomped his feet and generally looked like a sulky child not getting his way as he shook his head and repeated, “My bed. Now.”

Tony couldn’t help his lips quirking up at Gibbs’ truculent expression. “I’m fine here, Gibbs.”

“Well I’m not. I sleep better with you.” Gibbs growled, grabbing Tony’s arm and dragging Tony back to his bed with him when Tony didn’t appear like he would return to Gibbs’ bed on his own.

Tony laughed as he let Gibbs drag him up to the bedroom. He’d never imagined that Gibbs could be like this. It was a different side to the bastard than he was used to seeing.

The next morning er middle of the night, Tony woke up first. Gibbs had Tony wrapped tightly in his arms like Tony was a teddy bear. Tony didn’t know what to make of it. 

He tried to slip out quietly, needing to use the restroom, but Gibbs arms just tightened around him until Tony had no choice, but to wake Gibbs. “Gibbs?”

Gibbs grunted. He didn’t want to wake up. He was enjoying his happy dream of having Tony in his bed and in his arms. Tony shook Gibbs’ shoulder lightly, “Come on, Gibbs, you gotta let me go.”

“Never gonna let you go.” Gibbs mumbled, pulling Tony to him tighter and moving until he was comfortable again.

Tony sighed. Gibbs was obviously still asleep. “I'll come right back. I promise, but you need to let me go now.”

“Don't wanna.”

Tony shook Gibbs a little harder, hoping to wake Gibbs without triggering his defensive instincts. When Gibbs’ eyes finally squinted open, Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “I need to pee. Let me up.” Tony nudged Gibbs.

Gibbs blinked, slowly processed the words and then lifted an arm so that Tony could escape. Tony moved quickly to the bathroom to take care of his business and Gibbs grunted and went back to sleep. Tony shook his head at Gibbs sleeping form and glanced at the time. Seeing that it was only 1am, Tony joined Gibbs in going back to sleep.

When a more appropriate time to wake up rolled around, Gibbs woke again to find himself wrapped around Tony his cock hard and ready to go. Tony’s front pressed against his and he could feel that Tony too was a bit hard. Not one for words, Gibbs surprised himself with his desire to talk with Tony about their relationship and identify exactly what they were to each other.

He’d love to explore a physical relationship with Tony, but he didn’t want Tony to misunderstand and think it was a one time thing. He wanted Tony to know how serious he was and that he wanted to find a way for them to be together. He just didn’t know how to broach the subject with Tony.

Tony yawned. “Wha’ time is it?”

“7.”

Tony groaned, curling up against Gibbs again. He didn’t want to get up. Court had been stressful yesterday and then dealing with Gibbs last night hadn’t helped. Plus, there was still something bothering Abby which he hadn’t been able to get out of her at dinner.

Gibbs chuckled and rubbed Tony’s back comfortably.

“Tha’ feels good.” Tony mumbled, burrowing deeper into Gibbs’ arms.

“I still have to go to work.” Gibbs murmured softly, not particularly wanting to leave Tony when he was so pliant in his bed.

“I should go in too. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of Abby’s issues and I should say hi to Ducky as well.”

“I heard you got Tim a spot on Balboa’s team.”

“Yeah. I think it will be good for him.”

Gibbs nodded. “You know my team still needs an SFA. You could always come back.” Gibbs tossed the offer out just to see Tony’s response.

Tony paused to think about it for a bit before shaking his head. “Nah. I like my house in Paris. Plus, I’m rather done with court cases for a while after this one.”

That answer made it even harder for Gibbs to figure out how to broach the subject of them starting a relationship. Gibbs finally managed to convince himself to leave Tony’s body and get out of bed and dressed. Tony followed suit not too long after.

They grabbed coffee and something quick to eat and were on their way. Tony settled in at his old desk, but this time without the case file. He was off the hook with the court case unless they had to call him as a rebuttal witness for some reason. Tony really hoped it wasn’t necessary. 

Instead, while he contemplated Abby and what to do to get to the bottom of what was bothering her still, he watched Gibbs’ team, gently giving pointers to help the Probies improve like he would have done if they were his team. Gibbs and team were called out to a crime scene.

Tony was surprised that Vance had given Gibbs’ team a case. Gibbs needed to testify in the next couple of days on the Reynold’s case. Apparently, all the other teams already had cases and Vance hadn’t had a choice though. 

Vance actually asked if Tony would watch Gibbs’ team for him while Gibbs was at court. Tony shook his head and pointed out that that wouldn’t work. He wasn’t an agent anymore. 

Vance offered to reinstate him, but Tony shook his head. He wasn’t ready to be an agent again. “I’ll watch over them in the bullpen, but if they need to go into the field, you’ll have to get someone else to go with them.” Tony offered.

Vance grudgingly agreed. He would have preferred to get Tony back as an agent as the solve rates for more than the MCRT had dropped when he left, but it was ultimately Tony’s decision. He didn’t want to push Tony too hard and lose out on what help he was willing to offer.

Tony took advantage of the time with the team out in the field to visit Abby. Tony found a seat towards the back of Abby’s lab where he could watch the goings on in Abby’s lab without her immediately noticing him.

Her subdued motions bothered Tony. He wanted to know what had her so depressed. He’d gotten Tim back to a field agent position. He’d expected that to cheer her up, but it hadn’t. Tony was starting to get worried that something was really wrong with Abby.

Tony watched as Gibbs’ team returned with evidence for Abby. Abby completely ignored Gibbs and addressed everything to one of the probies. He should talk with Gibbs about inviting Abby over this weekend. 

It was clear that Abby and Gibbs were not communicating well at all anymore. It wasn’t something that they could reasonably fix at work. It wasn’t actually affecting work, so Tony would just have to see about fixing it during personal time.

Tony dropped a kiss on Abby’s forehead and returned to the bullpen now that Gibbs’ team was back. The team still needed a lot of work. Gibbs really wasn’t teaching his probies anything.

No wonder they were leaving so fast. He wondered how Gibbs had treated Abby and what was really going on with Gibbs. Gibbs seemed almost content to have Tony in his house.

Tony needed to have some conversations of a personal nature with Gibbs too, apparently. When Gibbs went down to Ducky to see if Ducky had anything from the body for his team, yet, Tony followed. Ducky was busy working on the body when they entered.

“Anthony! So good to see you.” Ducky greeted, when he saw that Tony had followed Gibbs down.

“Good to see you too, Ducky.” Tony smiled in greeting.

“You better take care of this boy, Jethro. He’s improving your team and you know it.”

“I know, Ducky.”

Tony glanced between Ducky and Gibbs. He was surprised that Ducky had noticed what he was doing.

Ducky turned to Tony, “And you young man. We miss you and I, at least, notice how much you’ve already done to fix things that happened after you left.”

Tony shrugged. It wasn’t anything big in his mind, but Ducky wasn’t having any of it. “No. Don’t brush it off. You’re an amazing young man and it was our failing that we didn’t make that clear before you left us.” Ducky gave Gibbs a full on glare at the end of that statement. 

Gibbs growled, “You got anything for us, Duck?” He knew he’d made mistakes before and that it’s possible Tony left because of it, but he didn’t want to get into it. He already felt shame for the way he’d treated Tony and the way he’d treated everyone after Tony left. Ducky’s words didn’t need to be on target to hit home.

Ducky glared at Gibbs, but accepted the subject change. “We’ve just started the autopsy, Jethro. It will be a couple hours before we have anything significant. I can tell you this was not an accident.”

“Thanks Duck.” Gibbs nodded and turned to leave. Tony followed him.

Ducky called after them, “If you don’t make a move on your boy before he returns to Paris, you’ll regret it.”

Gibbs growled. He knew that. Tony smirked. He recognized a reprimand from Ducky addressed to Gibbs when he heard one.

Tony couldn’t help wondering why so many people had not contacted him when they clearly wanted him to stay now that he was here. It was flattering, but he still preferred his home in France to here. He didn’t know what to think about the fact that everyone seemed to want him to stay.

That evening, Tony contemplated how much difference being away for years had made. Absence made the heart grow fonder seemed to be holding true here, but Tony didn’t know why. He didn’t regret leaving, the money had made it possible for him to have the life he wanted, but now he wondered what he’d missed because he didn’t expect the response he was getting.

He hadn’t parted on bad terms and didn’t understand why everyone wanted to keep him here. Admittedly, he’d only really tried to keep in touch with Gibbs, Abby, and McGee and he hadn’t expected them to stop talking to him except for Gibbs. He also hadn’t expected the reception he’d gotten, now that he was back temporarily, even from people that hadn’t seemed to respect his abilities when he left. 

It was beginning to feel like he was getting it from all sides. If it wasn’t for the fact that Gibbs had court tomorrow and he’d already promised to watch his team in the bullpen, Tony wouldn’t have gone into NCIS headquarters tomorrow at all. Frankly, he’d rather have spent the day supporting Gibbs in court even though he knew Gibbs didn’t need the support.

When Gibbs and him finally headed home for the day, Tony collapsed on the couch exhausted. It was a lot of work trying to smooth out everyone’s feelings. Especially when everyone seemed to want a piece of him for some reason or another. He really should bring up either their relationship or Abby with Gibbs tonight, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be the one to start a conversation. He was too wiped.

“Are you ok? Are you getting sick?” Gibbs hovered worriedly. He wasn’t used to Tony letting down his masks. Tony always took whatever anyone threw at him and kept going.

Tony chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m not sick. Just tired.”

“Do you want me to tell everyone to back off?”

“Nah. I just need a break from everyone’s expectations that I’ll be staying here permanently now that I’ve come back temporarily. I really love my place in Paris. I’m not ready to move back to the US even if everyone wanted me to.”

Gibbs nodded understandingly. He would have broached starting a relationship with Tony that was more than the cuddling at night they’d already been doing, but he didn’t want to add more to Tony’s plate or make Tony’s burden worse. So he busied himself with making dinner for them both.

He even made a salad, so that Tony could just sit and relax even though he hated greens with a passion. Tony smiled at Gibbs and could admit that he could get used to having Gibbs around all the time, especially a Gibbs that wasn’t a bastard all the time and took care of Tony when Tony needed it. He was still tired and ended up going to bed early, but he was in better spirits when he went to bed than when they’d arrived home.

Gibbs dropped a kiss on Tony’s forehead when he joined him in bed. Gibbs wrapped Tony up in his arms and happily fell asleep. Since he had court the next day he didn’t have to be in so early. Maybe they could have a personal discussion in the morning before they really started their day.


	4. The End or Is It?

The next morning, they woke tangled up together. Both awakening at about the same time, their erections were obvious to each other. Gibbs watched Tony and Tony in turn looked at Gibbs.

“I guess we should talk about this.” Gibbs murmured softly.

“Not if you’re not ready to.” Tony whispered back, though he wasn’t sure why he was whispering.

Gibbs grunted. “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t want to talk about it. We’ve been sleeping in the same bed without difficulty and we fit.”

“What are you saying, Jethro?” Tony prompted, daringly using Gibbs’ preferred first name to confirm whether this conversation was really going where he thought it was. 

“I want a committed relationship with you.”

“We haven’t even gone on a date, yet.”

“No, but we’ve basically been living together since you started staying with me.”

Tony had to concede that point, but he wasn’t giving in just yet. “I’m not agreeing to anything until we’ve been on at least one date.”

“No problem. How about next weekend after my team’s case is wrapped up.”

Tony blinked. He hadn’t expected Gibbs to agree so quickly. “Sure. We also need to talk about you and Abby. What really happened there?”

“I don’t know. The team was falling apart. I kept missing you and Ziva and Tim were fighting all the time. They couldn’t get it together and I couldn’t carry the team by myself. I don’t blame either of them for leaving, but it seems that Abby blames me for the team falling apart and maybe blames you a little.”

“I don’t understand how the team fell apart so badly.”

“Me either. The only thing I know for sure is that it was mutual. None of us carried our weight properly after you left.”

“Let’s have Abby over this weekend and talk things out with her. You also need to step it up with your probies. They’re not bad. They just need training and I know you can train.” Tony gave Gibbs a disappointed look. He didn’t understand why Gibbs wasn’t training them. 

“Invite Abby over. I don’t think she’ll come if I do it. I’ll try with the probies, but they’re not you.”

Tony shook his head. “Just try. This defeated attitude doesn’t suit you.”

“I’ve been wondering if I’m getting too old for this job. Maybe it’s time for me to retire.”

Tony’s eyes widened in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Gibbs voluntarily retiring? With the exception of Mexico, Gibbs seemed a permanent fixture at NCIS. “Are you serious?”

“I know you love your place in Paris. Maybe I could live with you there and find something new to do in France.”

“Don’t do anything too hasty. We’re just starting a relationship together. Let’s not make drastic career decisions until we’re sure what we both want.”

“Just so long as you understand that I’m serious about you and being with you is more important to me than my career.”

“Thanks Jethro.” He’d never had anyone put him first. It meant a lot. Tony glanced at the clock and immediately jumped out of bed. “Crap! We’re going to be late. You have court and I need to watch your probies.”

Gibbs moved with an efficiency built from many years in the marines and was dressed before Tony’s hurried movements even finished getting his pants on. Gibbs left first, barely having time to grab coffee on his way out the door as he really did need to get to the courthouse ASAP for his testimony. Tony didn’t dawdle, but he wasn’t as efficient as Gibbs and left the house a good 20 minutes after Gibbs. 

Nothing exciting happened at court. At NCIS, however, Tony barely had time to invite Abby over on Saturday as the team broke the case wide open and Tony had to coordinate from the office while making sure that the probies had appropriate support from senior field agents in the field as they chased down the leads they’d found. By the time Gibbs returned to headquarters after court closed for the day, the probies had gathered enough evidence to make an arrest. 

Gibbs joined the team and together they went to make the arrest. Tony thanked the senior field agents that had helped the team out for him while Gibbs was busy. They brushed it off and replied, “We’re happy to help you. You’ve been missed.”

“Aw. Thanks guys. Even if I’m not here, you’re welcome to email me even for case stuff.”

“Maybe we will.” They hadn’t wanted to bother him, but now they felt he would welcome it and it wouldn’t be a bother to him.

Tony headed home early. He wasn’t an agent and didn’t particularly want to wait around for Gibbs’ team to finish up all their paperwork. He started just tossing in vegetables and other ingredients, really just experimenting and playing without any firm idea as to what he was making in mind. 

By the time Gibbs arrived home, Tony had completed a zucchini casserole, pork chops, and a small pasta dish. Gibbs couldn’t help sniffing the air, whatever Tony had cooked smelled great. He was tired from court and tired from all the paperwork, but happy with the completed case and eager to enjoy whatever Tony had cooked. 

“Smells good.” Gibbs called out.

“Tastes better.” Tony returned, gesturing towards the seat across from him at the table with his fork.

Gibbs sat down and dished up his own plate.

“I’d just finished setting the table when I heard your car drive in, but I couldn’t wait for you.”

“No worries. It’s been a long day for both of us.” Gibbs took a bite and moaned, “This is amazing.”

Tony’s eyes went wide and his cock perked up. He tried to ignore his body’s reaction, but it was hard when Gibbs made noises that sounded practically orgasmic. Tony hurriedly finished his dinner and move to the living room. 

Yeah, they were both guys, but he’d done the jump into bed thing and he didn’t want that. He wanted a committed, serious relationship. It seemed like Gibbs was on board and Tony didn’t want to ruin the relationship before it even started by rushing and not setting up appropriate boundaries in their relationship. 

He’d done that before and had always regretted it. Somehow even when both parties wanted a serious relationship, it just didn’t work if they jumped into sex first. They just weren’t able to transition from one night stand sex to a healthy relationship full of give and take. Tony didn’t want to make that mistake with Gibbs. 

With the case wrapped up, neither of them had to be in the office tomorrow. Being Saturday, though, Abby was coming over at some point to talk. Tony and Gibbs decided without speaking to just relax that morning. The conversation with Abby would be dramatic enough without them talking about heavier relationship topics beforehand. 

Gibbs mostly worked on his boat and Tony turned on the TV, which Gibbs had brought back downstairs, and alternated between watching whatever was on and watching Gibbs. At some point they’d need to discuss how their relationship would continue once Tony returned to Paris. Long distance relationships were hard, but Tony felt strongly that the time they had before he left was not long enough to decide whether they would live in DC or in Paris. 

Plus, he really wanted to see Gibbs at his house in Paris. He felt that Gibbs would fit in there really well. They would really have a tough decision as to where they wanted to live permanently. Both DC and Paris had pros and cons, but first Tony really felt they needed to build a solid relationship and have a better idea about what they wanted in a relationship with each other.

They’d really only known each other as coworkers and briefly as housemates and neither was the same as being in each other’s pockets frequently, though with the way Gibbs worked they had a taste for how spending days together working could be. It also didn’t really give a sense for how they would make decisions together. Really trying to incorporate someone else into your life took work no matter how well the two people got along separately with each other.

Abby’s arrival interrupted Tony’s introspection. She knocked softly almost like she didn’t want to be here. None of her normal happy bubbly personality was present. 

Tony let her in, deeply disturbed by how depressed she seemed to be. Tony had no idea what this meeting was going to bring. He didn’t expect the words that came out of Abby’s mouth, however.

“How could you forgive him?” 

“Abby what are you talking about?”

“Gibbs practically pushed you out and yet here you are living in his house with him like there’s nothing wrong.”

“Wait. Stop. What do you mean Gibbs pushed me out?”

“Didn’t he? Isn’t that why you left us after you got your inheritance?”

“What? Abby? Where did you even get the idea that Gibbs pushed me out?”

Gibbs joined the two of them upstairs without being noticed until he interrupted, “Is that why you’ve been so pissed at me? You thought I pushed Tony out and made him leave?”

Abby nodded tearfully.

“Oh Abby.” Tony gathered her into his arms. “Gibbs didn’t push me away. I chose to leave. I wanted to live out my fantasy. Gibbs had nothing to do with it.”

“But if he didn’t push you away, why did the team fall apart when you left?”

“Gibbs and I are still trying to figure that one out. We don’t want it to happen again. One person leaving shouldn’t cause the whole team to disintegrate, but somehow it did.” Tony was beginning to get an idea of what happened with Gibbs and the team after he left, “Who else thinks that Gibbs pushed me out, Abby?”

“Well I told Tim and I think he may have mentioned it to Ziva. I’m not sure.”

“No wonder the team fell apart. No one was communicating.”

“Gibbs’ anger didn’t help.” Abby pointed out, glaring at Gibbs.

“No, I’m sure it didn’t, but Gibbs is working on that. You can’t go spreading rumors like that Abby. It made an already heated situation untenable. Ziva, McGee, and Gibbs would have eventually worked through things if you hadn’t put the idea in their heads that Gibbs was trying to get rid of me.”

“But Timmy.”

“Tim still needs to grow. He could have done that under Gibbs, but instead you gave him the impression that I ran away, so he did the same. He’s getting a second chance with Balboa and you better not screw that up for him.” Tony warned.

Tony should have a discussion with Tim and clear up the rumors, but he just wanted to put this whole thing behind them. “Now Gibbs has his own faults, but not everything is automatically his fault, Abby. You need to cut him some slack. He’s not God.”

Abby pouted at Tony, but Tony wasn’t budging. He just dropped his arms from around Abby and tilted his head towards Gibbs. Abby grumbled, but headed over to give Gibbs a hug. 

“Give him a chance to be human, Abbs. He may just surprise you.” Tony suggested with a flirtatious wink at Gibbs.

Abby wasn’t smiling when she left, but she was clearly thinking about what Tony said, so he considered that a win. He hoped that things would be better amongst the four besides himself that he would always consider Gibbs’ team, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and Gibbs. He would have included Kate, but she was no longer with them unfortunately.

The Reynold’s case was onto the defense’s witnesses, so the NCIS agents were unlikely to be called back in for a couple of days at least. Tony planned to relax and watch what happened at NCIS to see if the working relationships were improving at least. He was happy to see that Tim was working well with Balboa’s team. 

Even without Tony going into Abby’s whole misunderstanding it was clear that Tim had already accepted that he needed to grow and was working on it. Tony hoped that Abby would take the opportunity to grow as well. Gibbs’ transformation was the most obvious though. 

He was actually taking the time to explain things to his probies and even though they were working on cold cases, the team was clearly working together a lot better. Abby was talking to Gibbs again, though it was clear that it would take some time to completely mend their relationship. Still, the day went relatively well as far as Tony was concerned and it set a pattern for the week.

The nights Tony and Gibbs spent enjoying each other’s company and learning more about each other personally, deepening their understanding in a way that simply working together never could. On nights when they weren’t too exhausted for heavy conversation, they even delved into some of the things they were looking for in a serious committed relationship. 

During the day, they went into NCIS headquarters and Tony would pitch in, however, he could. Whether that was giving pointers to Gibbs’ probies or reviewing a case for another team to try and get them unblocked or sometimes he was even doing some impromptu training classes under Vance’s directions. 

Tony hadn’t even had a chance to think about what they’d be doing for a date on Saturday. He’d been so busy helping out where he could and watching to confirm that things wouldn’t fall apart when he left again that their date hadn’t even crossed his mind. When Gibbs woke him early Saturday, he was completely surprised and a bit taken aback to be served breakfast in bed. 

That was just the start of what was a perfect day to Tony’s mind. Gibbs took him out to the harbor for a surprise romantic cruise that was just the two of them. They shared a few romantic kisses and some heavy petting, but didn’t go any further.

By mutual decision, they chose to wait for full on penetrative sex until after they’d seen how the long distance thing was working. They didn’t want to make it harder on themselves by having sex right before Tony left and then them both pining even harder because their sexual appetites had been reawakened and they couldn’t sate them separated as they would be. It wasn’t a hard decision because it had been many months for both of them and a few more months wouldn’t matter to either of them.

That wasn’t to say that Tony didn’t plan to break Gibbs’ mind with some phone sex, once he returned to France. When they checked in on the court case on Monday, they were surprised to be informed that closing statements were expected to be made today. That meant that the case would probably be wrapped up by the end of the week.

Neither of them were ready for Tony to go back to Paris in a week. Tony spent the last week staying in the shadows at NCIS. He didn’t want people to grow too dependent on him when he wouldn’t be around for much longer, but at the same time he didn’t want to leave anyone in the lurch and wanted to see NCIS flourish.

NCIS had always had a special spot in his heart. It had really helped him out at a hard time in his life and he would always be grateful for that. Abby insisted on throwing him a going away party, which they hadn’t really had a chance to do when he left for Paris the first time. 

Gibbs offered to have it at his house and Tony was surprised by the turn out. It wasn’t just the old or new Gibbs’ team, it was the vast majority of the agents at NCIS headquarters. Most of them couldn’t stay very long, but all of them showed up.

On Friday, they got the news that the jury in the Reynold’s case had upheld the original verdict even with the new evidence. The party was the next Saturday and everyone wished Tony good luck and told him he’d always be welcome at NCIS. In the end only the old team, Abby, Ducky, McGee, Gibbs, and Gibbs’ three new probies remained. 

They were taking turns telling stories about old cases and generally just enjoying their time together. Tony hoped that Gibbs’ new team and the old team would learn to work together and would support each other after he left, but only time would tell. 

On Monday, Gibbs drove Tony to the airport. Tony had returned his rental car on Sunday to give them this final time together. It was a hard goodbye. Neither of them wanted to part.

“Next month in Paris?” Tony offered, not wanting this to be the end.

“I’ll be there.” Gibbs nodded and stepped back so that Tony could board his flight.

This wasn’t the end for them. It was only the beginning. They still had many decisions to face and the road would be long and hard, but somehow they would face it together.

Through many phone calls and texts, they would start to build a life together despite the ocean between them. Both of them had considered moving to live with the other, but they couldn’t decide where they ultimately wanted to live, so instead they ended up taking turns visiting the other. Gibbs was finally using his vacation time two weeks or a month at a time to visit Tony in Paris and Tony returned the favor visiting Gibbs in DC.

Eventually they would have to decide where they wanted to live permanently, but that decision and the factors leading up to it are a different story.

**Author's Note:**

> I've started a new [poll](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/55450.html) regarding my series and which ones people most want to see continued in place of the Rapprochement series which I have brought to an end for now... 
> 
> Note: The Bishop Entanglement, Crazy Cat Tale, and Pregnant FBI Agent series will be continued no matter what, so you don't need to vote for those. For those who don't have livejournals just leave a comment with your responses. Thanks!
> 
> Also, I'm looking for some writing buddies. Full details are [here](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/53610.html). It is friends locked, so you'll have to add me as a friend on lj before you can read it.
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 
> 
> My 2018 Prompt collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;)
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> Feel free to leave feedback here if you think something could be improved(either in the prompt process or the story itself).


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